The Perils of Japanese Pasta
by bedlamandbroomsticks
Summary: Why did James Potter, multiply rejected man wizard extraordinaire, have to ruin my delicious soy-saucy meal with his infernal good looks and arrogant personality? IN SUMMER? Oneshot


Don't own it, yadda yadda.

Review. Read it first, though. Speaking of: thanks to all the reviewers on my other story, Synonyms. It made me happy.

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"Noodle?" Dorcas cocked an eyebrow and held up the proffered pasta with her chopstick.

I shook my head in the sleepy manner of someone who has had too much to eat, which I was perilously close to being. She shrugged and slithered up the noodle with intense suckage. The end flicked up at me and splashed a drop on my nose. I wrinkled the perfect feature and she grinned.

"I love Japanese food," I sighed and sipped my tea. "It's so…so…" I gestured aimlessly in the air with my tea and Alice laughed as some splashed back down on me. Ugh. More liquid.

"Japanese?" A deep voice interrupted my oxymoronic peaceful ranting. (Because according to Alice, I don't talk; I rant.) I looked up through the steam of the shabu-shabu pot, hastily putting my tea on the table before I dropped it.

Oh God.

Oh GOD.

I should have thrown the damn tea.

Why did James Potter, multiply rejected man wizard extraordinaire, have to ruin my delicious soy-saucy meal with his infernal good looks and arrogant personality? IN SUMMER? I gazed at him, flabbergasted for a minute before I regained my voice.

"Potter. This is muggle London. My turf. Point one. Point two. It is summer. You are not allowed to be within a ten mile radius of me during summer."

"I couldn't stay away," He grinned suavely (what he thought, definitely not me ohnonono) at me. "Though I am forced to admit I didn't know you would be in this restaurant and owe this fortunate meeting to Lady Luck."

Dorcas muttered something about what exactly she'd like to do Lady Luck that involved a Malaysian Battle Spoon. Okay, maybe that was me. It was hard to tell, what with all the steam.

"I'd say it was rubbish, but for once it's true," Remus's voice wafted through the steam.

"Scoot over, Dorky," Sirius commanded appearing out from behind Remus. Dorcas, Alice, and I exchanged looks of dismay and silent reproach. Well, Dorc and I did. Alice looked like she was going to laugh. As usual. Dorcas would have been laughing about James Potter, but Sirius was there and she couldn't stand five seconds of him.

Dorcas shot out of her seat and sat next to me while the three boys bounced in across from us. She breathed in the steam deeply as if it would calm her and started on her noodles again.

"So, how does this work?" Sirius inquired cheerfully as if nothing was wrong.

"You shove your face into the bowl of hot water and slurp up the noodles and meat," Alice replied.

"And make sure you keep it there for a few minutes," I added tartly.

Remus sighed as if it was too much to ask for a pleasant meal—it was—and picked up a packet of chopsticks to demonstrate to James and Sirius how it worked.

"So I assume it's not that great to eat it raw?" James asked, reached past me for the plate of vegetables and brushing my arm with his and sending ting—

Okay, you know what; I'm just not even going there. It's too disturbing to mention those sorts of nonexistent thoughts.

"Yes. Padfoot." Remus sent a warning glare to Sirius. I picked irritably at the few grains of rice in my bowl before glancing up and wishing I hadn't. James was slurping up a noodle, his lips sort of gently grasping at it rather than sucking it in, and I guessed that's what it looked like when he was kissing someone and wouldn't it have been nice to find out if that was true…

Oh God. I turned bright red and sunk a few inches. Was I just honestly thinking about snogging James Potter? The carrots must have been getting to me. Oh god.

Remus gave me an odd look over his beef strips and I squirmed. "Lily? Is everything alright? Your face is all red."

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

"Er, n-n-no, it's just the steam, thanks," I mumbled back, ducking behind my red hair. James was also looking and I bet that Alice and Sirius were smirking.

I checked.

They were, blast them.

Oh hell. Whatever. It was a moment of insanity. I shook back my hair, and grabbed my chopsticks, looking anywhere but straight ahead. I stared harder into the bowl than any crystal ball, and fished around for a noodle. Aha! Got one. I put the end in my mouth and started reeling in with my amazing powers of sucking noodles right out of the bowl.

Dorc and Remus started chatting about the new political situation and how was You-Know-Who affecting muggle politics. I nodded affably, and looked down in the bowl still sucking. If that noodle didn't end soon I'd probably choke and end up dead on the table with my face in my rice and—

A warm pair of lips met mine and I opened up my eyes out of my reverie. James was leaning across the table, _kissing_ me. Frankly, it was absolutely delicious and he smelled like mint tea and cinnamon. I drew back hurriedly and my eyes widened. That piece of pasta was connecting us. Oh God. I bit the noodle hurriedly, and thumped back against the seat, blushing furiously. And this time I couldn't blame on the steam.

Sirius laughed, and I quickly chewed the mouthful of pasta and swallowed. James looked shocked and delighted. I didn't think that expression was possible on a face. He was still leaning across the table like a bleeding idiot.

"I always told you there was something connecting us," James grinned broadly and leaned back slowly.

"I—You—Shut up, Potter," I settled for, feeling extremely flustered. "Excuse me."

I ran out of the restaurant and collapsed on a bench half a block away. Oh God. Had I actually liked that? The cliché Lady and the Tramp scene that had just occurred between us?

No. No way was I that silly. Or deranged.

Blast.

I knew I should have thrown the tea.


End file.
